Volume 1: A sound on Wall Street, Xinxiang City is busy copying books Chapter 144: Little Seedling
Subtitle of this chapter: See you in Paris, fifteen years later!
"By the way, Neo. Your book is out."
Hearing what John said, our Master Yuan was actually puzzled. How could it be so fast if there are no computers for printing now?
Mr. McCall reported: "In fact, Helen had already found a printer to start printing on the day we made the bet. Now she listened to you and printed it as a single volume."
"Here, this is the proofread copy for you."
Yuan Yan took it and flipped through it, nodding with satisfaction. He didn't think the printing quality was good, but he confirmed that Miss Brown obeyed orders and changed the names in it, and even added a note at the beginning:
“This book is not fictional, but adapted by the author based on the experience of the character of the same name in the book.
I am also honored to inform readers that the protagonists of the book have immigrated to New York, USA. They opened a dessert shop at 520, 56th Street, Brooklyn. "
Our Master Yuan is so traditional. He adheres to the teachings of Confucius, which is "Repay evil with virtue. How can you repay virtue?"
So he very "kindly" helped the dessert shop opened by anti-American fighters and put a big product placement in his own "Chocolat".
Now the heroine of this book is called Vivian Rochelle, the hero is called Lyndon Wan, and the 10-year-old burden brought by the heroine is of course called Enuka Rochelle. Because there are no Asians in this book, Comrade Zhuang Kunlun was lucky to escape.
As a loyal student and follower of our Master Yuan, Miss Helen Brown gave the proofread copies to her classmates in the College of Arts and Sciences. After reading this book "Chocolat", what else can these literary young women say? Of course, they went straight to the "Black and Red" dessert shop.
This made the anti-American fighters break out in a cold sweat.
"We can say that Mr. Yuan Yanshu's portrayal of female characters is always ahead of his time. In his early work, Chocolate, he created a strong and confident heroine who still retains her feminine charm. This is the first time such a female character has appeared in literary works around the world..."
"In the howling north wind, single mother Vivian and her daughter Enuka walked into a quiet and secluded French town. The chocolate they brought made this place, which had remained almost unchanged for hundreds of years, surge with sweet waves. The beautiful Vivian seemed to have magical powers, able to see through the preferences and tastes of everyone in the town and satisfy their secret desires. In her shop, those without love found warmth; those without homes could live here and drink a cup of warm hot chocolate; those who were bullied also found courage in the chocolate prepared by Vivian herself. The closed and gloomy town regained a touch of color and vitality..."
"However, the stubborn conservative forces in the town, led by Pastor Renault, regarded her as an alien, fearing that Vivian would destroy their traditional values and life. The arrival of the river wanderers further disrupted the peace of the town, and their leader, a retired American officer Lyndon Wan, also disturbed Vivian's heart..."
"We can compare this novel with the famous Jane Eyre by British female writer Charlotte Bronte. Both books describe the stories of their respective heroines who constantly pursue freedom and dignity in the face of various hardships, persist in themselves, and finally achieve happiness."
"But we should also see that there are huge differences in the portrayal of the heroines in these two books—"
"Jane Eyre is naturally a woman with self-respect, self-reliance and rebellious character. However, she still manages her love and marriage, and only through these two can she obtain true happiness. Therefore, the female symbol she represents is actually just a vassal of a man. Of course, this is the author's limitation of her time. In any case, having such a heroine was already a breakthrough in literary creation."
"But Vivian Enuka and Jane Eyre are fundamentally different. On the surface, the chocolate shop owner is more in line with traditional society's expectations of women than the governess. She has a gentle personality, strong maternal instincts, and feminine tenderness. But she can maintain her life independently without relying on men. Love is of course important to her, but it is not everything in life."
"Both books describe the heroine's rescue of the hero. But Jane Eyre's ability to be saved is because she has a rich inheritance, which allows her to take care of the injured and disabled Mr. Rochester. And Vivian Rochelle rescues a former officer who has been tortured by the war from his gloomy life simply by using her own love and charm."
"It is really amazing that a man, an Oriental man, wrote such a novel and such a heroine around 1920. When I first read this novel and knew that the author was an Oriental, I had a kind of longing for the men there...."
" After Chocolate, Mr. Yuan Yanshu's epoch-making fantasy epic featured more female characters with distinct personal characteristics. These women are very different from traditional images and leave a deep impression on people..."
"It must be said that Mr. Yuan Yanshu is truly worthy of the title of 'Friend of Women'."
"When I first met Mr. Yuan, the first question I asked him was why he could write such a female character. He did not answer the question directly, but asked my name first, then looked at me with a very strange look, and then said in French, Miss Tauradiou, there is a Chinese proverb I wonder if you have heard of it..."
"What you're watching is... a pirated version!"
——Excerpt from Marguerite Duras's "Appreciation of the Female Characters in Mr. Yuan Yanshu"
In 1920, our Master Yuan certainly didn't know that Miss Margaret Tauradiou, who was only six years old, would become his fan, nor did he expect that she would grow up to be a beautiful and romantic Gallic girl.
But the two of them eventually met in the romantic capital of the mid-thirties. As for what would happen after they met...
Of course, it's the kind of thing that happens when a female fan meets a male idol... well, it's a slow process.
